I Need A Break
by Corazie
Summary: Something's happened and now Emily is leaving. She's not sure where she'll go, yet, but she's going. A gap year, she says to her parents, to her brother, to Katie... But is it what she expects?
1. Chapter 1

I only got 3 reviews in total for my last story and it was 8 chapters. Needless to say, I've been very very put-off posting anything.

**I Need A Break**

"So why are you taking a gap year again?" Katie sneered at her sister. They had both gotten into their university of choice and Emily had all of a sudden decided to defer her entry. "It's not like you can go travelling with Naomi now."

Emily's eyes smarted. Naomi was a sore topic now. Just weeks before they were due to leave, Naomi had broken up with Emily. Emily was heartbroken. All she could think about was the pale blond hair and soft figure of her girlfriend. Her ex-girlfriend. Naomi had the tickets, of course. She'd been "keeping them safe". Now Harriet was going with her, the girl that Emily had innocently introduced Naomi to at a party. Emily had thought it fantastic when they hit it off, only she hadn't known then that were seeing each other in secret behind her back. It had been going on for weeks before Emily noticed Naomi's distance.

"Well?" Katie prompted. "What are you gonna do now? Just come to uni."

"I'm going to go abroad still. For a while. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. Katie, I just have to get out of here." And she did. It was so oppressive in this shitty town, with it's dirty air and familiar faces.

"Where are you going to go?" Katie held back from scoffing.

"Panda suggested something. She said I could be a nanny, a live-in nanny. Somewhere like America or France or Spain. I can speak French and my Spanish is passable, I'd get by."

"A nanny?" Katie smiled. "You'd be a great nanny. You're great with kids, and they love you."

"So you're OK with it? Just so I can get away from this dull country." Emily was quiet.

"Katy shom, Emsy." Their eyes met and even Emily smiled. "Of course. Just come back, yeah?"

"I will, Katie. I just need a break." The two sisters hugged tightly, and when they separated Katie turned to her wardrobe to get ready for a night out and Emily pulled an old leather suitcase from under her bed.

"Emsy, come on one last night out. Please. We'll take loads of pictures and stuff and print them in the morning." Katie never missed a beat and had already guessed her sister's plans. She already knew that her twin wasn't coming back when she left.

"Sure." Emily spoke to her sister's back, already packing her underwear. "Can I borrow something of yours? Then I can pack first."

Katie threw a short black shift dress over her shoulder and Emily caught it against her chest, a tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

"You know my number, so you make sure and call me." Neither of the twins was hung over, despite the late night and copious amounts of alcohol. "Get it, Ems? You'd better call me."

"I get it, Katie. I'll call." It was a lie, really, and both of them knew it. "I'd better get going, they're going to wake up soon." It was nearing eight in the morning and the world was waking up. Emily squeezed her sister's hand before turning and walking away, suitcase in hand, a large tote slung over her shoulder and a backpack on her back. She was nearing the corner of the street, about to leave everything behind.

"EMILY!" It was Katie, running after her. "Emily, I almost forgot. Here." She panted, handing over a small photograph album. "Don't you dare forget me."

Emily smiled a slow, sad smile and slid the album into her tote. "Goodbye." She rounded the corner, not once looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

New series is on, I quite like it. Skins US is laughable though, quite terrible.

**I Need A Break**

Emily's neck hurt from sitting awkwardly on the packed coach to London as she pushed the door to the small, cosy office open.

"Ah, Emily. It's nice to see you again." Emily smiled at the warm motherly face of the head of the agency, Delia. She sat opposite her, a broad dark wood desk between them. "So, ready for your post? I'm afraid it won't be America, though. They found someone a little closer to home in the end. And the Spanish couple decided to send their son to boarding school. But, I've found a lovely post for you in Scotland."

Emily mouth was hanging open. She'd had her heart set on leaving the country, and yeah, Scotland might be a few hundred miles away and technically another country, but it was still in Britain. There was no ocean separating her from her past, the past that she so desperately wanted to leave behind. She needed the space...

"It's a lovely place. Quite rural though, tucked away in the highlands." Delia smiled at Emily.

"Hang on... You said I'd be going somewhere. I've got my passport and everything."

"Emily, this place is perfect for you. They do have a nanny at the moment, but she's on holiday and they're expecting twins. You'll get on wonderfully with her, and their daughter is an angel. I've met the couple and their daughter many times." Delia pushed a brown folder over the polished desk. "Here. They're the perfect choice for someone just starting out and they're willing to take you on."

Emily peeled open the folder and looked down at a photograph of a model family. The father was tall and handsome, the mother was petite with waves of auburn hair about her face, and the daughter was like a little fairy child, pale and delicate with a mass of dark ringlets. John, Elizabeth and Henrietta. She picked up the photograph to look closer at the surroundings. It had been taken in the garden, she supposed, and great mountains reared against a cloudless sky in the background. She placed the photograph to one side and looked back down at the folder...

"Ah, yes, your tickets. You'll be travelling by train. Sleeper train, I'm afraid, as it's quite a journey."

"Sleeper train?" Emily was confused.

"Yes, sleeper train. You'll have your own little room for the journey. It takes a while, the train doesn't travel fast, nor does it take the most direct route. But it will give you time to think, and some quiet reflection is always good."

"Oh, great... When do I leave?" Emily was tired now, needed to lie down and clear her head.

"You should probably get going now." Delia gathered everything together, the folder in one hand and tickets in the other. "Do call me when you get there, dear. And get something to eat before you go, maybe take a few sandwiches, the food on sleepers is usually awful."

"Ok..." Emily was in a bit of a daze, it felt as though she was in some bizarre nightmare-turned-dream.

"Well, that's that then! Here you go," she handed Emily the tickets and a brown envelope. "There's some money in that envelope so you can get yourself sorted before your first pay. It'll be taken out of your pay as the agency fee is each month."

Emily left the room having stuffed the money filled envelope into her tote. She looked at the tickets. _Two hours..._ She supposed she should get something to eat, and once she'd plodded down the stairs and out of the building, she went into the first greasy spoon cafe she found on her way to the station.

"'Ello dearie, what'll it be?" The waitress was upon her before she'd sat down properly or looked at the menu.

"Uh, a pot of tea. And uhm... A full english." she spat out the first thing that came to her head.

"Right you are, love. It'll be over in five minutes, I'll get your tea." The dumpy waitress had bustled away and was clattering behind a garishly-pink Formica counter. Emily looked down, the table was the same awful shade, the laminate chipped and worn at the edges. But it was clean. "'Ere you are." An aluminium teapot was in front of her, with a plain white mug and a small jug of milk.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked before the waitress could leave the table again. "Do you do sandwiches to go?"

"'Course we do, hun. Tell you what, I'll get some made up and you can settle them with your bill."

When Emily's meal arrived, she scoffed it down. She drank her tea and stood up, walked to the counter and waited for the waitress to reappear.

"That'll be a fiver, sweetie." The voice came from behind her. "An' here's your sarnies."

Emily paid up and left, walking quickly to the station. That had certainly been cheaper than M&S, she thought, as she pushed through the press of people and into the station, then onwards to the platform to board the train.


End file.
